Before her presentation, at left, Diana Bianchi, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, signs copies of her widely-used medical textbook "Fetology." Several School of Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine physicians brought the book to the lecture for her to autograph.
Diana Bianchi, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, and Constantine Stratakis, M.D., (Med)Sci., the NICHD's scientific director, arrived at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Detroit Medical Center this week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Perinatology Research Branch in Detroit.
Dr. Bianchi and Dr. Stratakis met Roberto Romero, M.D., chief of the PRB; leadership of WSU, including Dean Jack D. Sobel, M.D.; and section heads of units of the PRB who are WSU faculty members. They also attended a series of poster presentations about the innovative research projects emerging from the branch.
"We have had a very detailed presentation," said Dr. Bianchi, who was appointed NICHD director Nov. 8, 2016.
The PRB is the only branch of the NICHD located somewhere other than the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md., she added.
"It is amazing how many things are being done in the Perinatology Research Branch, and I am very happy that the National Institutes of Health is funding the studies here. It is very apparent that Dr. Romero and his crew have had an impact on both the medical school and the community," Dr. Stratakis said.
Since coming to WSU, the PRB has assisted more than 25,000 mothers and their infants who confronted the potential of preterm birth. The branch has produced numerous findings that have changed the field, and many more that are expected to do the same in the future.
As part of their two-day visit, on Aug. 16 the directors presented a special combined Distinguished Dean's Lecture to a packed audience of School of Medicine faculty, physicians, fellows, residents and students in Scott Hall's Green Lecture Hall.
Dr. Bianchi presented "From prenatal genomic diagnosis to fetal personalized medicine and beyond." Her talk covered the pioneering contributions she has made to noninvasive prenatal diagnosis and the treatment of trisomy 21, also known as Down Syndrome.
Dr. Stratakis presented "The genetics of adrenal and pituitary tumor: implications for diagnosis and therapy." He is a pediatrician, endocrinologist and medical geneticist of international stature, and directs the Division of Intramural Research of the NICHD.
Dr. Bianchi oversees the institute's research on pediatric health and development, maternal health, reproductive health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and rehabilitation medicine. This includes managing a staff of approximately 1,400 people and an annual budget of approximately $1.3 billion.
She received her medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine, and completed residency training in Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital, Boston, and postdoctoral fellowship training in Medical Genetics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, at Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in all three specialties and is a practicing medical geneticist with special expertise in reproductive genetics.
Dr. Bianchi's translational research focuses on two areas: prenatal genomics with the goal of advancing noninvasive prenatal DNA screening and diagnosis, and investigating the fetal transcriptome to develop new therapies for genetic disorders that can be given prenatally.
Dr. Bianchi has published more than 290 peer-reviewed articles and is a co-author of "Fetology: Diagnosis and Management of the Fetal Patient," a book which won the Association of American Publishers award for best textbook in clinical medicine in 2000 and which several lecture attendees brought for her to sign.
Dr. Bianchi received the Colonel Harland D. Sanders Lifetime Achievement Award in Genetics, given in 2017 by the March of Dimes, recognized her pioneering work on maternal and fetal cellular communication, including their significance in disease and diagnostics, and for exploring treatments of fetal disorders. The Maureen Andrew Award for Mentoring, given in 2016 by the Society for Pediatric Research, recognized her commitment to mentoring the next generation of clinician-scientists. The 2015 Landmark Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics recognized her research and contributions to genetics and newborn care.
Dr. Stratakis was named scientific director of the NICHD in 2011, after serving as acting scientific director since 2009. He received his medical degree and doctor of medical sciences degrees from the National and Capodistrian University of Athens in 1989 and 1994, respectively. He joined the Developmental Endocrinology Branch of the then-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, first as a student, and then as a postdoctoral fellow in 1988. In 1990, he continued his post-graduate medical education at Georgetown University Medical School, completing a residency in Pediatrics and two fellowships in Pediatric Endocrinology and in Medical Genetics and Clinical Dysmorphology. He is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Medical Genetics.
Dr. Stratakis served as head of the Program on Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, the largest department of the clinical research program in the NICHD Division of Intramural Research, since its inception in 2007 until September 2011.
Dr. Stratakis identified the genes for Carney complex and Carney-Stratakis syndrome, and other genetic defects leading to adrenal and other tumors. He and his laboratory have published extensively in the fields of pediatric inherited disorders and cancer genetics, and on other pediatric adrenal and pituitary disorders.
He received the 2009 Ernst Oppenheimer Award from the Endocrine Society, the 1999 Pharmacia-Endocrine Society Award for Excellence in Published Clinical Research and multiple NIH Merit Awards. He has been named visiting professor by several academic centers around the world, most lately of the University of Adelaide, Australia, and University of California, Los Angeles, Medical School in California.
Drs. Bianchi and Stratakis also visited the office of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, where the launch of a new partnership between the city of Detroit and Wayne State University was announced to further combat preterm birth.
"I was very impressed. He seems to have a deep commitment to preterm birth and childhood obesity," Dr. Bianchi said.
The new partnership will expand upon the Make Your Date program, launched three years ago and headed by Sonia Hassan, M.D., WSU associate dean for Maternal, Perinatal and Child Health, and director of the Center for Advanced Obstetrical Care and Research in the PRB. Make Your Date was launched to reduce the rate of preterm birth, the leading cause of infant mortality in the city.
Drs. Bianchi and Stratakis also attended an evening celebration Aug. 15 at Brush Mall, the outdoor area between Children's Hospital of Michigan and Harper University Hospital. The reception was open to the full School of Medicine and university community.